A good old pricing thread :)

[Vectis]

Just had an email exchange with a distressed bride who has (she believes) been let down for tomorrow evening, seeking our help.

Anyway, turns out she'd agreed a £200 cash-on-the-night arrangement with the chap who's now vanished off the face of the earth - bouncing emails, disconnected phone line etc..

Now given that it's for a nice country manor type venue I did question the sensibility of maintaining a £200-ish budget especially given the short notice, and it transpires that:

a) she contacted and had quotes back from about a dozen DJs local to the venue

b) she met three of them

c) SHE BOOKED THE DEAREST thinking this would give her a quality product and peace of mind :zip:


Needless to say after a bit of re-education the budget has now been significantly increased and the search is on.

BUT ... what on earth is going on out there?? Stunned isn't the word.

[DazzyD]

£200??? :eek: You won't get that rou...... :zip:

People are always going to undervalue the service we provide but that's the general perception of the public. Until potential clients are educated on what we charge and why we're worth it that attitude will never change.

[Vectis]

Until potential clients are educated on what we charge and why we're worth it that attitude will never change.

Agreed. But in this case we had a punter who didn't know what the "correct" rate was for a professional, approached the local market for guidance and chose the dearest. One would have hoped that the mere mention of "posh wedding in a posh venue" and "I don't know how much I should be paying" would have resulted in at least one of the dozen or so companies approached putting in a cheeky high bid :confused:

Anyway, we've got her sorted now. She happily paid almost 3x the original amount and the company who have stepped up I know will do a good job.

[funkymook]

£200??? :eek: You won't get that rou...... :zip:

People are always going to undervalue the service we provide but that's the general perception of the public. Until potential clients are educated on what we charge and why we're worth it that attitude will never change.

It's the £150'ish DJ's that need educating!

If you contact any dozen businesses and if they all send you sub £200 quotes then that sets your expectations to what the going rate is.

Remember a lot of people haven't booked a DJ before, so what else can they go on? Its not really their fault.

[chrisj]

I had a call this morning asking how much I would charge next September for a wedding. After asking the place and times I found it is a modern village hall about 14 miles away where I have been before. Times, he said We are getting married there and need the disco set up early as I don't like DJ's humping gear in when guests are there. 1.00pm until midnight. My quote £700 and ge replies The DJ we thought we had booked has taken another booking and let us down, he was £260 but we have been in touch with a DJ who says he will charge £250.

I dodn't mind at all, there will be lots of enquiries before next September and I wouldn't want to work for someone who thinks he will have a good disco for 11 hrs at £250. Something fishy maybe another DJ checking for prices but I have the guys number and just out of interest I recalled it to mention children's entertainment would be included if required.

[DazzyD]

Agreed. But in this case we had a punter who didn't know what the "correct" rate was for a professional, approached the local market for guidance and chose the dearest. One would have hoped that the mere mention of "posh wedding in a posh venue" and "I don't know how much I should be paying" would have resulted in at least one of the dozen or so companies approached putting in a cheeky high bid :confused:

Anyway, we've got her sorted now. She happily paid almost 3x the original amount and the company who have stepped up I know will do a good job.

Maybe she was just unlucky that she chose the most unreliable DJ out of the ones she picked. She may have ended up with a real bargain!

I do agree that it's a bit odd that someone didn't see £££ signs at the mention of "posh wedding" and "posh venue" or maybe they're just too used to the "How much??? :eek: " reply when quoting the going rate. However, not all clients are like this one. When I started doing weddings at a local "posh" venue I was actually charging from £150 for a basic 4hr show. I've improved since then and last week quoted £375 for a wedding at the same venue. Funny though, I've heard nothing back!!


It's the £150'ish DJ's that need educating!

If you contact any dozen businesses and if they all send you sub £200 quotes then that sets your expectations to what the going rate is.

Remember a lot of people haven't booked a DJ before, so what else can they go on? Its not really their fault.

I wasn't blaming the client for their lack of knowledge - that's something I would never do. And I also agree that (some) DJs need educating what they're really worth. But, in today's economic climate, I can see businesses reducing their prices out of fear that clients won't pay the "going" rate. For the first time in 3 years, I've put up my prices and in the last 3 month's I've lost 2 residencies. Dwindling punter numbers are a major factor (I do/did resident karaokes and people were just not turning up anymore) but my costs had increased and I had to pass them on to the client as I couldn't absorb them anymore. The end result is I'm down by a 5-figure sum annually (and I'm not including the pence!!) which has really hit my finances hard. I'm not quite ready to quit but something needs to happen soon. I can see this being the fear of other DJs hence the lower quotes.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

It's the £150'ish DJ's that need educating!

If you contact any dozen businesses and if they all send you sub £200 quotes then that sets your expectations to what the going rate is.

Remember a lot of people haven't booked a DJ before, so what else can they go on? Its not really their fault.

I'm starting to agree with this big time...

I thought it was only about the general public and how they value us, but it is partly to do with ourselves and undervaluing our own service and product.

[Corabar Entertainment]

Very much so!

What I don't understand is how these £150 (but decent) DJs make a profit. Is it because they don't count all their real overheads ("Oh, I just use my mobile and I've got that anyway"), or that it's a hobby that pays for itself, or what?

[Vectis]

... and just to throw another conundrum into the mix, why oh why did (at least) three of them provide a FREE pre-sales meeting for a sub-£200 gig :daft:

[Corabar Entertainment]

...and conversely, at a meeting the other night for a £400 gig, did the clients state that two-thirds of the DJs they contacted wouldn't do a pre-booking meeting!

[Shakermaker Promotions]

What I like about the system at NAD is that in the enquiry it gives an indication for the customer as to what prices to expect.
On another note, I'd also agree that if a number of businesses all reply with the same figure (for example: £200.00) then firstly, what differentiates them from eachother if they are all charging the same and secondly, Yes...the customer will possibly think that it's the going rate.

I have had a number of customers say to me in the past that they wouldn't consider anything under £200.00 for their function.

One more thing, when I first started out self employed and was the new business on the scene in my area, I did some work calling around and finding out what others were charging to give me an indication as to what I could possibly charge. The common price at the time was £250.00 so that was my starting price. I was just doing Discos then and it didn't matter what the booking was but I based it on the duration. I got plenty of work in the first couple of years and was relatively happy and then a friend of mine who runs his own business asked me what made me stand out or made me different to those charging the same and I didn't really have an answer at the time. He advised me to put my prices up but I was a bit reluctant to do so at the time because I thought it may put people off but I was wrong and he was right. He said to me "The next enquiry you get, add £100.00 on to your usual price and see what happens". I took the gamble and it didn't work on that occasion but after a few weeks it did start working. Not many enquirers asked why I was charging more than other locals but those that did...well, I explained why and sold my services to them, telling them what they got for their money etc. I have never looked back. The price has gone up twice since then and I am offering other services aswell now.

Sorry if I have gone off topic, I don't think I have? I do think it's quite relative to this thread.